Bike share finally came to Portland, Oregon this week, and the system has already proven to be popular. At this point, bike share in the US is no longer a novelty, as successful systems are integrated into the day-to-day life of dozens of major cities.

However, not all bike share is created the same, and Portland’s new system has the distinction of being the largest “smart-bike” system in the country. This is in contrast to most large systems which rely on “smart docks” instead.

The primary difference is the location of the electronics. In a smart
dock system, everything is handled by the dock and an attached kiosk. On
a smart bike system, the bicycle itself carries all the technology.
That means you can lock your bicycle to anything. You use a pin code to remove the built in lock and when you’re done, you reattach the lock to the bicycle (and another fixed object of course). Built in GPS ensures the company knows where the bike is.Click to read more!

It’s
a new day for the Alta Bicycle Share company, under new ownership, and new management. Sadly,
it seems like the new boss is a lot like the old boss when it comes to making
promises and then not following through with them. Alta became quite well known
for never delivering on their promises, and on day 1, the new Alt, now owned by
Related Companies and Equinox, has kept up the tradition.

For months now, there have been rumors that Citibike, Alta’s flagship system,
would see a price hike for annual memberships under the new ownership. The
official announcement yesterday confirmed the hike, but included a disclaimer.
On the official announcement and in the email they sent to all existing subscribers last night: Click to read more!

It’s been over a week since the nation’s largest bike-share system launched in New York City. That launch was accompanied by a very predictable stream of media – naysayers, doubters, and then the tabloids looking for trouble.

With bike share, New York has been following the exact same media
pattern we saw in Boston in 2009-2011. Boston, naturally, was mirrored
in London during the same period. Both of course were simple repeats of
what happened in Washington a year earlier.
…

It’ll never work! No one will ride them! Only tourists will use them! It
will be a boondoggle! There will be so many accidents, injuries or
deaths!! If people wanted to bike, they’d have their own! There will be
rampant vandalism! It’ll cost too much! Click to read more!

The Boston area bicycle share system, officially called “New Balance Hubway”, faced a rocky start as it saw multiple delays and many missed expectations. Fortunately, the system is finally getting its act together and has been marching towards adding its 100th station. This summer, the system began expanding into neighboring cities, and new stations are being added every week.

An additional batch of stations is expected this month, taking the system over 100. While it may not have the expansion goals of Mexico City, the system is finally covering a respectable geographic area. Click to read more!

We’re all very familiar with the idea that if a volcano blows in Indonesia, a plane crashes in Paraguay or a riot breaks out in Helsinki, news of the event will reach every corner of the globe in a couple of hours. The world is of course connected and news can travel quickly.

Theoretically, ideas can travel as quickly as news, and yet it seems that it isn’t the case. Indeed, new ideas, which may be fantastic, well-proven concepts, can take years to be spread and accepted.

When it comes to adopting proven best-practices, that’s a huge roadblock.

Two things inspired me to write this post. One, is the announcement that the New York City bike-share system will launch this summer and be sponsored by Citibank. What caught my eye was the parade of articles about the concept that followed the press releases. The second thing that inspired me to write this post are the songs I heard on the radio today. Those two concepts might seem unrelated, but they both show how ideas still spread slowly. Click to read more!

Since blowing up in Paris in 2007, bicycle share systems have made their way to every continent, with more coming online each month.

These systems vary greatly in number of bikes, stations, subsrcibers and geographic area covered. But how do they compare in terms of Facebook popularity? Facebook is one of many ways these companies have of reaching their riders, and sending out critical information, like locations of new stations, removal of existing ones, changes in policy and so forth. Are the riders taking their interest in the system online?

All numbers from December 3rd, 2011. It is not all-inclusive by any stretch, although I tried to get all the big-name ones. Click to read more!